50s Petticoat: Construction Notes

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A classic 1950s petticoat, cut in net to match my circle skirt. So much delight for so little effort! And these cost like £40 in Camden?????? 

I was galvanised to finish this one by a local drag queen who had to costume at short notice, and was experimenting with a vintage housewife routine. I got the fabric in, but my part of the project didn't come together in time.

Difficulty: Fairly easy. Recommended for beginner sewers.

Time taken: one week

Fabrics:

I chose net, and had a good floof for a lower price. 

My petticoat master post gives a lot of other options. The more historically accurate ones, like crinoline, were a touch expensive. The more visually attractive ones, the frilly and floofy tuille ones, are nice to look at but not as good as a petticoat which provides extra volume.


The net is a practical fabric - it's good at making the skirt puff out, but cheaper than something authentic.

Incidentally, I learned that tuille is just a fancy term for "posh net", with smaller holes, a softer texture, and ideas above its station. Shout out to Rolls and Rems on Seven Sisters Road for the help and advice on choosing a fabric - I had a good old chat with the guy who's usually there, about how what people think of as a 50s petticoat nowadays is not what people used to wear at all.

Instructions/pattern: I used my 1950s Floofy Petticoat Masterpost as a resource to get this one done - particularly relying on the Sugardale, and  GrosGrain tutorials.

Net doesn't fray, so I didn't need to bind anything with ribbon. I used a cheap equivalent of twill tape for the waistband. 


Measurements:

Circle skirt final length - 64cm
Matching petticoat length - 62cm
My waist circumference - 75 cm
 
3 x tiers. The first is 2 yards long, the second 4 yards, the third 8 yards. Each tier is 8 inches wide, providing 1/2 in of seam allowance on each side

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Construction Notes

1. Net is a bugger to cut

My life's been pretty crappy this year, all told. I've been unable to live at home all year since my neighbour's property flooded two of my rooms, and it's been 12 months of disruption, no space, no sewing machine, and now coming back to clutter and dust and everything out of place. My sewing room has been the crap dumping ground all year, and while such a room is sorely needed to preserve some semblance of sanity in the rest of the house, and while my sewing space is far less important than the kitchen and bedroom it's...frustrating to have a large cutting table which I cannot get to.

Anyway, I cut the net over my knee or on the corners of tables surrounded by piles of junk, not the greatest environment to get a neat result; and I'm still not great at handling fabric either.

The resulting rectangles are messy. Luckily, net petticoats are inherently confusing to look at, so it's not super noticeable; and any lad or lassie lucky enough to see me in my petticoats had best be paying more attention to other things. So it's OK. But I want to improve on it for next time.

2. Also, you can't pin net.

I used hairgrips instead, and hated every minute of it. But to be fair, every fabric I've ever handled has been the worst fabric ever - so I think I just need to get better at handling it, and accept there aren't really starter fabrics - they all have their own annoying quirks.

3. Cut the net in shorter lengths.

Nevertheless, net is a nuisance to handle, especially in long lengths. I regret not following Sugardale's advice to cut every tier in smaller units. 8 yards of fabric is no joke. It also helps to have smaller units of fabric for gathering the fabric correctly later on - you can see what 1/4 of the bottom tier is, to match it to 1/4 of the middle tier etc. 

4. Proper frills require miles of fabric

I immediately decided to do a narrow tier of 16 yards on the bottom, with a tightly gathered ruffle. I severely underestimated how much fabric that kind of ruffle requires. I need like...at least 4 times as much, maybe even more, to accomplish a full on ruffle.

I don't want to think how long the tiny ruffle on that red petticoat is.

5. American politics is stressful

My husband insists on listening to American politics updates on youtube 24/7 and I have no idea why. We are not American. We don't live in America. How are you holding out over there, guys...?

I blame some of my messy sewing on the play-by-play this-week's-constitutional-crisis updates that come with two people having only one room which doesn't look like a bomb site. So cheers Brett. 

6. Don't underestimate the puff

This pattern doesn't look like much when you're working, but can confirm it produces a really nice level of volume under a circle skirt. One of these petticoats is nice for an everyday look, improving the circle skirt while not being too OTT for work or too anti-social on public transport.

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This petticoat is the first project I've completed which I'm genuinely 100% happy with. I've got an upcoming commission to make some for a friend's wedding dress. I'm looking forward to repeating the project for friends, to make more for me, and to experiment with other fabrics for different finishes.

Also, last time I was at Camden I had a sneaky look at some of the ones there and £40 dude. This is a sewing project on which you can absolutely make a saving - net is around £1 per meter. 

You know there's a...luxury factor to vintage underwear, no? A secret knowledge of care and attention and pampering you carry with you throughout the day. Vintage undies are the ultimate form of "I do fashion for myself, not for onlookers"